The Role of Vaccinium Myrtillus in the Prevention of Renal Injury in an Experimental Model of Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Abstract Objective: To examine the biochemical and histopathological renal effects of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury using a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (RAAA) model in rats and to investigate the potential protective effects of whortleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus). Methods: Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into four groups - control, sham (I/R+glycerol), I/R, and I/R+whortleberry. Midline laparotomy alone was performed in the control group. Atraumatic abdominal clamps were attached under anesthesia to the abdominal aorta beneath the level of the renal artery in the groups subjected to I/R. Sixty-minute reperfusion was established one hour after ischemia. The sham group received five intraperitoneal doses of glycerol five days before I/R. The I/R+whortleberry group received a single intraperitoneal 50 mg/kg dose diluted with saline solution five days before I/R. All animals were finally euthanized by cervical dislocation following 60-min reperfusion. Results: Increases were observed in malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and tubular necrosis scores (TNS) in thin kidney tissues and in numbers of apoptotic renal tubule cells, together with a decrease in glutathione (GSH) levels, in sham and I/R groups. In contrast, we observed a decrease in MDA levels, TNS, and numbers of apoptotic renal tubule cells, and an increase in GSH levels with whortleberry treatment compared to the I/R group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that whortleberry may be effective against acute kidney injury by reducing oxidative stress and apoptosis.

目的：本研究采用大鼠破裂腹主动脉瘤（ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, RAAA）模型，探究缺血再灌注（ischemia/reperfusion, I/R）损伤对肾脏的生化及组织病理学影响，并考察越橘（Vaccinium myrtillus）潜在的肾脏保护作用。方法：将32只雄性斯普拉格-道利（Sprague-Dawley）大鼠随机分为四组，即对照组、假手术组（I/R+甘油）、缺血再灌注组（I/R组）以及缺血再灌注+越橘组。对照组仅实施正中剖腹术；对于I/R相关各组，在麻醉状态下采用无创腹部动脉夹夹闭肾动脉下方的腹主动脉，缺血1小时后实施60分钟再灌注。假手术组于I/R造模前5天，经腹腔注射给予甘油，共5次；缺血再灌注+越橘组则于造模前5天，经腹腔注射给予单次剂量为50 mg/kg、以生理盐水稀释的越橘制剂。所有大鼠均于再灌注60分钟后，通过颈椎脱臼法实施安乐死。结果：假手术组与I/R组的肾组织中丙二醛（malondialdehyde, MDA）水平、肾小管坏死评分（tubular necrosis scores, TNS）以及肾小管上皮细胞凋亡数均显著升高，而谷胱甘肽（glutathione, GSH）水平则显著降低。与I/R组相比，经越橘干预的大鼠上述指标均得到显著改善：MDA水平、TNS及肾小管上皮细胞凋亡数降低，GSH水平升高。结论：本研究结果表明，越橘可通过减轻氧化应激与细胞凋亡，对急性肾损伤发挥保护作用。